The Los Angeles Lakers need to feed LeBron James the ball, and get out of the way

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) pounds his chest after drawing a foul as he scores a basket in the second half against the Indiana Pacers at Staples Center.(Photo11: Jayne Kamin-Oncea, USA TODAY Sports)

LOS ANGELES – Maybe it was the right match-up or the right look. Maybe it was a desire not to let a two-game skid become three. Or maybe LeBron James just worked out that the best way to win games is to take care of it himself.

As this season wears on James, the Los Angeles Lakers - and maybe the rest of the Western Conference - may have cause to reflect upon Thursday night, because while it’s impossible to predict what comes next, it certainly looked like a shift in mindset that could prove lasting.

Give me the ball, James’ body language screamed as the pivotal moment of the team’s eventual 104-96 victory over the Indiana Pacers arrived. And get out of my way.

The Lakers did, and the Pacers couldn’t stop him. Of L.A.’s final 15 points, James scored 12 and set up a Kentavious Caldwell-Pope triple. That spurt came after the Pacers had impressively responded from a whopping 23-point early deficit – the Lakers’ biggest first quarter lead for 14 years – to narrow the gap to one.

James finished with 38 points and seven assists, but when it comes to the topic of what he should do with the ball in late game scenarios he is damned if he does and damned if he dishes, like he did toward the conclusion of last Sunday’s uninspiring home defeat to the Orlando Magic.

It’s not rocket science, as pointed out concisely by Lonzo Ball.

“(LeBron) is our closer,” Ball said. “He sets the table for us. The best player in the world. Put the ball in his hands. Take what he gives us.”

When he does pass it, it has nothing to do with an unwillingness to take a pressure shot. It’s always about finding an open shooter for a higher probability look, but don’t be surprised if you don’t see that scenario much anymore, whatever the shooting percentages say.

James looks ready to take over, just like he has been itching to do since he moved from Cleveland. It is all very well handing over the reins and forcing others to step up at crunch time, much like they may theoretically have to in the playoffs.

But there is no luxury of an assured postseason place for the Lakers, not in the embarrassingly loaded Western Conference. Taking the ball out of James’ hands when it matters means running the risk of letting precious wins slip away.

The Lakers are probably a playoff team as things stand, but it is far from a certainty. They will lose plenty, they are still raw enough and defensively fragile enough to make that inevitable. That much was made clear in a drubbing in Denver on Tuesday night, where they were sunk by a 32-point margin that felt like more.

James needs to assert his gravitas often enough to guard against it, and now he seems to realize it.

“It is the challenge I have been battling with,” James said. “How much do I try to take over games? (This) was one of those where they looked at me and wanted me to close the game and I just tried to make plays. Allowing those guys to learn in this atmosphere … is key, but we want to win ball games as well. I am available any time we need a play to be made.”

Three home games, against the surging Dallas Mavericks, the inept Phoenix Suns and a patchy San Antonio Spurs squad, follow. Then, a testing stretch that will see the Lakers spend the best part of two weeks on the road.

There are more puzzles for head coach Luke Walton to work out and there remains a learning curve. Some of the wobbles will be solved by experimentation, some by time, and maybe some won’t get fixed.

But the Lakers find themselves in a lot of tight games and when it comes to figuring out what to do, the formula shouldn’t need too much overthinking.